New music for December

This song came out at a perfect time for us, about 21 years ago. "I could have missed the pain, but I'd had to miss the dance." Many are living this song today. You know I know. Show some bravery...there will be a dance at some point.

A tragedy.

A man has died from exposure after being trapped upside down in a Utah cave. Rescuers have decided to seal the cave with the body still trapped, so as to not put anybody else at risk. Back in the day, I loved crawling around in little wild Arkansas caves. I remember being on my stomach in a wide passageway that narrowed down, top to bottom, so that my boots had to be splayed out like a duck instead of the soles vertical. That's a good time to turn around.

Another time, my redneck rope ladder broke and dropped me and a friend into a pit cave, requiring us to be lifted out by park rangers. That got our picture on the Harrison newspaper front page. I heard our "equipment" was shown to some Harrison area school kids as a perfect example of what not to do. I'm always glad to help out.

It's okay to be a little skeptical.

A. Remember how they taught us the iceberg ripped a gash in the Titanic ? It didn't. The rivets popped like they were plastic because they weren't tested or appropriate for frigid water. The hull plates just separated. Go figure.

B. Remember all those shaggy buffalo herds roaming the wild, wild West? Nope. Bison.

C. Remember how the early polar explorers would occasionally go nuts and sometimes die from the extreme white-out conditions and long isolation ? Nope. Turns out it was lead-poisoning from their soldered-up metal food containers.

D. Everybody knows the Pilgrims first came ashore at Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts, and had a wonderful first Thanksgiving buffet with the indigenous people serving. Nope. The initial landing was where Provincetown would later be. The first contact with the locals was awkward, where they felt compelled to shoot arrows from a distance and received hot musket balls for their trouble. The nearby Plymouth area was discovered to have better dirt and to be more tourist-friendly overall.

F. What's next ? Somebody gonna tell me we didn't walk on the moon and there's no such thing as a chupacabra ?

Heard a story today.

Two friends on sports bikes (crotch rockets) were riding in the Hot Springs Village area. Rider A was an expert rider who could wheelie anytime at any speed. Rider B wished he was that kind of rider. On a long uphill straight stretch, Rider A pops one and goes through all the gears.....up the hill and out of sight...impressing Rider B......and also impressing an elderly driver in a van sitting at a stop sign. The van driver then pulled out onto the highway...and Rider B is no longer with us. Later that afternoon, Rider A was selected by local law enforcement to deliver the news in person to the new widow, leaving nothing out.

I think it was Robin Williams who said, "dying is like being told your table is ready, and you didn't even know you were in line."

a roach....

I killed a roach in my office this morning. Actually, I have been directed by office management (the wife) not to call it a roach...but a palmetto bug. I hear those things can fly, but ours don't. Turns out.....only poor people have roaches.... middle-class people have palmetto bugs...and rich people don't have bugs. We have rich friends in Fayetteville whose subdivision doesn't even allow bugs outside. Life is good.

This job situation.

Our hearts & prayers go out to everyone unemployed & underemployed. This is a test, not just on the checkbook, but on our core belief in ourself. One possibility that is worth looking at while you wait for that dream job to call....is self-employment. You can go it alone or partner with someone NOT like you, but someone with skills that are complimentary to yours. If you can sell, find a geeky numbers person. If you are that geeky numbers person, you better find someone who can sell something. He or she is looking for you.

A few possibilities....housepainter (in & out), housecleaner (it's hard work but pays good), yard layout,design & maintenance, fastfood delivery (I'm talking about McDonalds, KFC, all of them),caterer/party planner, pickup & delivery of tools & material for the thousands of independent roofers, siding guys and construction guys working today. Look at HireMeNow.com.

Make your lifestyle match your income...not the other way around.

One final thought. When you hit the streets everyday, decide that you will do what you say...this will set you apart. Your honesty and disposition will be tested. You have to see yourself serving Someone bigger than yourself..representing Someone bigger than yourself.

Handicapped parking....

Is there a number that regular citizens can call when we see healthy people get out of a car parked in a handicapped spot...and walk into a store with no apparent handicap ? That ain't right. It's a gutsy thing to do...but people who do this must have been raised to feel SOOOO special and entitled to whatever they can snag in life.